The Fearsome Porcupine

There are more than 1,000 minute barbs on each of a porcupine’s many quills. This is the reason why such a quill is very difficult to withdraw from the flesh. The armament of quills, from a half inch to three inches long and developed from hairs of the underfur, renders the “spiny pig” of northern woodlands almost immune to attack. About its only enemy in nature is the giant weasel, the fisher, which has learned the trick of quickly turning the porcupine on its back.

The quills are very lightly attached to the porcupine’s body and become detached almost automatically when the creature is attacked. That they can be “shot”, however, is almost certainly a fallacy. A victim must actually be in contact with the animal.